Fire And Ice
by xxshebeexx
Summary: After an accidental fall, Ash and Misty find themselves trapped in a cave, which houses an incongrous Charmander, a mysterious crystal and a new adventure that will challenge their friendship, courage and love. AAML, Egoshipping, Palletshipping included.
1. Save The Charmander, Save The World

AN: First of all, I'd just like to clarify that this is a Pokéshipping fic, but it's also got hints of Egoshipping (Misty/Gary) and Palletshipping (Ash/Gary) in later chapters. It's a romance fic as well as adventure, action and angst (alliteration, did you notice? XD) This, and all forthcoming chapters, have chapter art, which you can view at my Livejournal (link in bio - feel free to friend me!). I really hope you enjoy the story! And if you can tell me where the first chapter title's from, you deserve much love and cookies:D

**Fire and Ice**

_Part One - Save The Charmander, Save The World_

"There is absolutely no way I'm walking across that!"

"It's the quickest way! D'you want to spend the next three days going the long way round?"

Hands on her hips, Misty glared at Ash, her cerulean eyes glowing. He only stared back, arms crossed, pretending to be oblivious to her anger.

A smug expression flashed across his face and he grinned. "I know what it is. You're scared."

Misty's cheeks flushed red and she dropped her arms to her sides. "Scared? Of a little rickety bridge? You're kidding me."

"Oh really? And it doesn't bother you that the bridge over there is really old, the wood is falling apart, the ropes are frayed, that it's really long and that it's hanging between two really high cliffs? Wow, Mist, you really are something."

She balled her fists. "Stop teasing! I'm not scared; I just don't see the point of going that way. Brock says no one ever comes this way, so why do we have to?"

"Where's your sense of adventure? If you and Brock want to go the long way, go ahead. Pikachu and I are going this way! See you in a few days then!"

With that, Ash gave his two friends a cheeky wave and headed to the edge of the cliff where the aforementioned rope bridge hung. For a moment, he paused before stepping onto the first wooden slat. It was weathered and old and he seriously doubted it would take his weight. The feeling of a heated blue stare from behind him decided him, and he walked quickly onto the bridge, Pikachu trotting beside him.

"Argh! Ash Ketchum!" Misty's voice was shrill and high. "If he thinks that's going to prove anything, he's totally wrong!" Leaving Brock staring after her, she bounded onto the bridge, leaving the wooden planks swaying in her wake.

To her annoyance, Ash stopped where he was, halfway across the bridge. He reached out and held the waist high ropes on either side of the bridge, preventing her from going any further when she reached him.

"Get out the way! How are we meant to cross this thing if you stand in the way?"

Ash only grinned, that infinitely infuriating grin, the one she sometimes wondered if he'd invented just for her. "I thought you weren't afraid."

"I'm not!"

"So then you won't mind if I do this?" He leaned hard to his left and the bridge began tilting in that direction. When Misty and Pikachu grabbed out for a rope to hold on to, he leaned back to the right again.

"Ash, cut it out!"

He leaned again and an ancient beech plank slid from its place and fell the fifty metres to the sea water below, landing with a hard splash.

"Ash!"

"Okay, okay!" He wasn't laughing anymore, and was holding the ropes, trying to stop the swaying motion. "I can't stop it!"

A second plank, the one just behind Misty, worked itself free and fell, eliciting a gasp from her. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulders.

Ash tried taking a step towards Misty, but his trainer went right through the wooden plank and he could feel himself falling to his knees. Misty and Pikachu cried out in alarm, but it was too late. With a tremendous ripping sound, the bridge tore itself free of its securing and the whole lot cart wheeled through the air.

The water beneath was freezing cold, and when Ash broke to the surface, it was full of floating planks of wood and broken ropes, which tried to catch his legs. He grabbed onto a piece of wood and pulled himself onto it. Pikachu emerged from the water a moment later and he scooped his friend into his arms.

"You okay, Pikachu?"

The little mouse nodded and shook the water from its body. Ash hugged him tightly and looked around. "Where'd Misty go?"

"I'm here, no thanks to you!" She appeared in the water a few metres to his right, clutching her Staryu. Her wet hair was dripping into her eyes and she was glaring at him.

Ash held one arm behind his head and smiled bashfully. "Yeah, um, sorry about that, Misty. I – ah – didn't think –"

"Exactly, you didn't think!" she admonished. "And now you've gotten us stuck."

She was right. They were trapped between two sheer cliff faces, in a narrow channel filled with churning sea water and floating pieces of wood. They couldn't head out to the open sea because the coast was cliffs for miles along the shore.

"We'll have to head inland," Misty concluded. "Get off that bit of wood and grab a bit of Staryu."

Deciding it was in his own best interests to be obedient for once, Ash slid off the plank and he and Pikachu paddled over to Misty. With a cry, Staryu pushed off and swam through the water, its powerful, sleek body slipping easily along the current.

"Hey, there's a cave over there!" Ash had spotted an opening in the cliff face, a few metres above the surface of the water. There was seaweed clinging to the rock; it would be submerged at full tide.

"Staryu, head over to the cave!" Misty called, and it did as she asked, bobbing in the water just below the entrance.

Pikachu hopped onto the ledge first, followed by Misty. She pulled herself fully onto Staryu, almost standing on her Pokémon and hauled herself up onto the wood. She turned to lean down to Ash, holding out her hand to him.

He took her hand and she pulled him up, where he fell heavily to the ground beside her. He got to his feet and straightened his sodden cap over his wet hair. "Hey, thanks," he said, trying to inject a bit of gratitude into voice.

Misty ignored him and took a Pokéball from her pocket. "Good job, Staryu. Return." Staryu disappeared in a flash of red. Misty stuck the ball into her backpack. She proceeded to straighten her clothes, and tucked a few stray red locks back into their side style. Finally she turned to Ash.

"Now, listen to me. You got us into this mess, and I'm going to get us out. So you're just going to have to do as I say. Got that?"

Ash fought the urge to laugh. "You want to boss me around? What's new?"

Misty's hands had flown to her hips again and Ash decided it would be better to keep quiet from now on. Misty had a fiery temper and he'd been at the brunt of her anger more than once and knew it would be better for everyone to keep her sweet. She was more agreeable that way anyway.

They started walking into the cave. A few metres in and the sunlight was gone. The ground underfoot was slippery and wet, making it hard to walk. The complete darkness certainly didn't help them keep their grip and they lost their footing several times.

"I'm going to be so bruised when we get out of here," Misty commented after she'd fallen particularly heavily against a jutting boulder.

"If we get out of here," Ash said. "I can't see a thing! Pity Brock didn't fall off the bridge too; he always has a torch in his bag."

"He's going to be wondering what's happened to us."

"Mmmm."

They continued in silence for a few minutes when Misty spoke again. "I hope we're not walking in circles. It's impossible to tell."

"Nah, we're not," Ash replied easily, his confidence back. "Plus I think we're going uphill, so there's got to be a way out of here! Hey, do you notice something?"

"What?"

"I can see you. A bit, anyway. Not that being able to see you is a good thing really."

"Shut up. There's light coming from somewhere!" Misty's voice was strung with excitement.

"That way! C'mon!" Without thought, he reached out and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the source of the light.

The light was getting brighter and brighter, the cave was becoming clearer, until Ash could make out the rocks, and the seaweed clinging to the boulders and walls, glowing wetly in the gloom. They rounded a corner and the cave opened out into a large chamber, the roof arcing far above, out of reach of the dim light. There was a huge rock in the centre of the chamber, with a flattened surface.

And curled up on the rock was a Charmander, its eyes closed and its tail light illuminating the cave.

Ash and Misty halted in their tracks, their surprised expression mirrored on one another's faces.

"What's a Charmander doing here, in a sea cave?" Misty asked. "Is it injured?"

Ash realised he was till holding her hand in his and let it fall with a flash of embarrassment before taking a step closer to the Charmander, staring at it. "I don't think so. It looks fine to me. Its light is fine too. Maybe it got lost."

"Charmander don't live around here. It would have to have come a really long way to get lost here," Misty reasoned. "It must have been brought here."

"For what reason?" Ash approached the ledge carefully and slowly, and held a hand out to the Charmander. It opened its eyes and watched Ash intently.

"Hey there," Ash said softly. "You're a long way from home." When the Charmander didn't react, Ash laid a hand gently on its head. It shied away a little but didn't attack or dodge completely.

"There's something on the ledge beside it," Misty said, bending down and picking up the object. She held it out to Ash. He could just about make it out; a little box. It looked like it was made of glass, but when he took it into his hands, it was far too heavy. Crystal then. He held it to the light of Charmander's tail. There was something inside the cube; it glinted red and blue in the light.

A sudden roar made Ash abandon his cursory examination. He and Misty looked up in alarm and saw a trickle of water whoosh across the floor of the cave from where they entered the chamber.

"Ash – it's the tide!" There was alarm in Misty's voice. "The crashing, it's the waves hitting the cave walls!" We have to get out of here now, before the whole place fills with water!"

Ash pocketed the little box and turned to Charmander. "Hey, buddy, we have to go!"

The Charmander stared at him with doleful eyes and shook its head slowly. Yet it stood up on the ledge and turned its face upwards. It opened its mouth and shot a ball of flame towards the roof. The light of the flame illuminated the roof of the cave.

"There's a ledge up there, Ash!"

Without hesitating, Ash grabbed a Pokéball from his belt and tossed it in the air.

"Bulbasaur, we need your help! Use your vine whip to lift us to that ledge!" The little grass Pokémon nodded earnestly and shot its vines out to encircle Misty's waist. She gasped in surprise as she was flown towards the ceiling and landed neatly on the ledge. Ash was next.

"Charmander, you have to come with us! It's not safe down here!" As if to show the truth of his words, a wave of water rolled into the cave, washing over the ledge and making Pikachu hop onto Ash's shoulders to keep clear of the rapidly deepening water.

Bulbasaur couldn't wait any longer. It hoisted Ash into the air and set him onto the ledge far above beside Misty.

Ash hurried to the edge of the ledge to look down. His brow furrowed when he couldn't see Charmander. It had disappeared, but it couldn't have gone far; there was still light in the cave.

He hit the ground with a fist. "Charmander! Where'd you go?" He held out a Pokéball and recalled Bulbasaur. "Charmander's gone."

Misty looked sympathetic. "Ash, it probably knows what it's doing. It didn't really look lost, maybe it lives in here and knows where to go when the tide's in."

Seeing the pain on his face, knowing the hurt he was feeling at what he saw as failing to save Charmander, she reached out and touched his arm. He, like the Charmander, didn't shy away from her touch, but he was rigid beneath her fingers. Failure cut him deep and her comfort didn't do anything to stop the waves of guilt and regret. At most, her touch stopped him from drowning in it. He gave her a weak smile in return.

"Let's get out of here."

Misty let go of his arm reluctantly. She hated the thought of Ash hurting inside over something he had no control over. "I think this piece of rock isn't a proper roof," Misty said, indicating the rock above their heads and trying to focus. "I reckon it's a plug. If we push it, it'll give way."

The three of them pushed hard at the rock and sure enough, it slid upwards and fell to the side to reveal bright blue sky and sunlight streamed into the cave. Misty pulled herself out first, with a boost from Ash. He and Pikachu scrambled out after her. They sat on the warm grass of the cliff top with relief, their hair and clothes still soaked with sea water.

"Ash! Misty! Pikachu!" Brock was running across the grass to them, his face filled with relief too. "I had no idea what happened to you! You fell and then you disappeared! Are you alright?"

"We're fine, Brock." Misty stood, and wiped some strands of grass from her shorts.

Ash was quiet, and Misty looked at him with concern. She was certain that Charmander was fine, but Ash seemed to think it needed saving and was beating himself up about it.

"Ash," she said, "did you bring that little box?"

He started in surprise. "Yeah, yeah, I did." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crystal cube. It seemed to glow in the sunlight, the red and blue streams inside looked as if they were moving, twisting about themselves in the confines of the crystal.

"There's something engraved into it!" Ash exclaimed, holding it out for Misty to see. There, in tiny lettering which shimmered in the sunlight, six words were carved into the crystal, just below the red and blue highlights.

Misty read them aloud.

"Save the Charmander, save the world."


	2. Nothing Can Change Destiny

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and enjoyed Part One:) Here's part two, the calm before the storm, so to speak! I hope you like this chapter (this is the one where the various ships come into play!) and don't be afraid to let me know what you thought!

Oh, and since I forgot to add the disclaimer for the first chapter... Pokémon does not belong to me. You guessed that already though, right?

**Fire and Ice **

_Part Two – Nothing Can Change Destiny_

The road leading up the hillside was empty; the kind of desolate emptiness that accompanies a stormy night. The wind whipped across the heather and the tall grass, tearing leaves and twigs mercilessly into the air, and splattered cold rain across the bushes.

Ash was finding it difficult to see the way or even to see his friends in the growing darkness and the driving rain. He had his jacket tightly wrapped around him and around Pikachu, who was huddled in his arms. He was holding his cap in place with his hands; he would lose it in a second to the gale if he let go.

Beside him, Brock and Misty were shielding their faces with their hands. They were relying on him to find the way. Even though he'd walked this way a hundred times before, it was a different road tonight.

Finally, Ash could make out the twinkling of lights through the sheets of rain. The three of them ran the last few metres to the door of the lab, banging it open with their hurry to get out of the downpour.

They stood panting in the hallway, leaning over, their hands on their thighs. At a quiet cough from their right, they straightened immediately.

"Tracey!"

"Hi Ash." The researcher smiled easily at them. "What brings you here on a night like this?"

"Tracey, is Gary here? It's really important; I have to see him right now!"

"Hey, take it easy! What's the rush? Wouldn't it be a good idea to get out of those wet clothes first?" Tracey was holding his hands up in defence.

"Is he here?" Ash snapped impatiently, ignoring Tracey's suggestion. At least, he tried to, until Misty breezed past him, brushing his arm and shooting him an indignant glare.

"It can wait five minutes, Ash," she said, slipping her soaked red jacket from her shoulders and handing it to Tracey with a smile. "Thank you." And she stalked stiffly into the kitchen.

Ash glanced at Brock for support, but he merely shrugged. Sighing, Ash plucked his cap from his head and followed Misty into the kitchen.

An hour, a hot chocolate and some dry clothes from Tracey's wardrobe later, the four of them were sitting around the kitchen table in the lab.

"Gary's on his way, he'll be here in a minute," Tracey reassured Ash, dropping a marshmallow into Brock's mug. Brock nodded in thanks. "What was the big deal?"

"This." Ash reached for his jeans pocked before remembering he was wearing a deep green dressing gown and not much else besides. He pulled the little crystal box from his rucksack, which lay on the chair beside Pikachu, next to him.

Tracey took the box in his hands and turned it over. "This is beautiful. Crystal?"

"Old crystal. Very old." Gary Oak was standing at the top of the table, his arms crossed over his chest, his white lab coat gleaming and spotless. He walked around and held his hand out to Tracey, who dropped the cube onto his palm. "I've read about these, but never seen one before."

Ash straightened in his seat and leaned forward, determination gleaming in his eyes. "What is it? What does it mean?"

"Where did you find it?" Gary asked, ignoring Ash's questions and running a forefinger along the sharp edge of the cube.

"In a cave." Ash sat back again, a dark look crossing his features. "It was there, with a Charmander."

Gary nodded thoughtfully. "It's a prophecy." He dropped the cube heavily on the table, where it smashed hard into the wood, without so much as cracking. "Like I said, I've read things. Stories, mainly. Ancient crystal cubes, with lettering engraved inside. Fulfil the directions and the prophecy comes true." He shrugged, seemingly unaware that four gazes were glued to his face in disbelief. "I'm not saying I believe it, but then again, I didn't think the cubes themselves even existed. But you've only gone and found one."

Ash reached across the table and took the cube into his hand. "What is the blue and red inside for?"

"It tells you which prophecy it is. There were supposed to be four – darkness and light, honey and thorns, rage and love … fire and ice."

"Fire and ice…" Ash repeated, turning the cube, watching the streams of sapphire and ruby twist in on themselves, as if fighting for dominance inside the crystal. "What does it mean?"

Gary looked vaguely uncomfortable now. Admitting he was ignorant of anything galled him. "I'm not really sure… there wasn't much said about meanings, because these crystals were supposed to have been lost, long ago. There was just some – ah – nonsense about duty. It's supposed to be the destiny of the bearer of the crystal to fulfil the prophecy."

"I found it." Ash's voice was low. "Am I meant to fulfil it?"

"Ash, it's just a story," Brock pointed out, draining the last of his chocolate. "A pretty one, but just a story."

"Maybe." Ash stuck the crystal back into a pocket in his rucksack.

"I think it's time we got to bed," Tracey announced, pushing his chair back and standing. "That was more than enough excitement for one day."

Once the lights were out, Misty immediately heard the deep breathing of Brock beside her and it didn't take long for Tracey's soft snores to become audible across the room. She rolled over to her side, closing her eyes and willing herself to drift off to sleep. But sleep was elusive tonight, sliding out of reach every time she could feel herself beginning to fall. Brock had somehow managed to steal most of the blankets for himself; Misty vowed this would be the last time she shared a bed with him, even if it was Tracey's relatively large double one. The fact that Brock was considerably free with where he poked his elbows was another deciding factor.

A faint noise outside the room caused her to sit bolt upright. The room was in darkness; the thick curtains had been dragged across the windows to keep the roaring of the storm raging outside at bay.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she suppressed a shiver. The calendar claimed it was midsummer, but the storm had decided to wreak havoc with the humid weather.

She padded across the wooden floorboards, feeling the rough edges of the wood catching the threads of her socks. The door opened smoothly enough, after the squeaking of the handle as she turned it threatened to wake her roommates.

Stepping out into the hallway, Misty thought for a moment that she might have been mistaken about hearing anything at all. The wind whipping over the roof of the lab, the creaking of the trees as they swayed in the gale and the booming of thunder overhead would spark anyone's imagination.

As she turned to head back inside the room, she caught a glimpse of light from the stairs. Curiosity reawakened, she quickly crossed the hall to peer over the banister. At the bottom of the stairs, a lamp was burning, its light casting eerie shadows over the French doors, which were wide open to the veranda beyond.

Incredulous, Misty trotted down the stairs, feeling the draught scurrying up to meet her and tear at the red hair loosely falling to her shoulders. She caught one of the porch doors before the wind swung it shut and slipped out onto the veranda.

The light of the lamp hardly reached the veranda, and it was only when lightning flashed overhead that she spotted the figure standing beside the stairs down to the garden path. Coming closer, she could make out dark, spiky hair and the glint of a pendant against a purple jumper.

"Gary?" she called out, her voice thin in the wind.

He slowly turned on one heel to look at her and surprise flashed across his face.

"What are you doing? It's the middle of the night."

"I could say the same for you," Misty shot back, crossing her arms across her chest. The gale was fierce and she might has well have worn nothing at all for all the protection her thin white pyjamas offered her.

Gary shrugged, obnoxious even in the dimness. "If you're here for him, you're already too late."

"What?"

"What do you mean, what? Ashy boy, of course."

Alarm rose inside Misty. She could see where this was leading. "Where is he?"

Gary looked back out towards the road winding away from the lab, obscured now by darkness and lashing rain. "He tried to sneak out, thinking I wouldn't hear him when I was five feet away from him in the room."

Taking a step closer to Gary, she glanced out at the rain too. "He went out in that." Shaking her head, she muttered under her breath, "You idiot, Ash, you idiot. You don't always have to be the hero." She stared at Gary until he was forced to meet her gaze. "He's gone out to find the Charmander, hasn't he? That silly prophecy?"

Gary only nodded, unusually silent.

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips and she punched Gary's shoulder, non too lightly. "You're every bit as much an idiot as he is! Why'd you have to go telling him that prophecy? Ash isn't the kind of person to sit around when he hears something like that! He's probably out there thinking the world'll end if he doesn't find that Charmander!"

As she swung for his shoulder again, Gary reached out and caught her wrist in one hand. Twisting her arm, just enough that it almost hurt, she suddenly found herself face to face with the taller trainer. He was bending over her, almost too close for comfort. Her eyes widened and cheeks flushed.

"Listen," he said heatedly, almost too low to be heard. Misty could feel his breath on her lips as he spoke before the wind snatched it away. "You've got to go after him. He's too rash; he'll end up doing something crazy if he hasn't someone there with him."

Before Misty could stop herself, she found herself retorting, "And since when do you care what _Ashy boy_ does?"

Gary scowled darkly and twisted her arm a little more, so their noses were only inches apart. "Does it even matter? I would've thought you'd be running after him in a second, red."

Anger deepened the redness in her cheeks. "I do _not_ run after him."

His scowl turned to a maddening smirk, but that quickly faded. A kind of blankness settled on his features and green eyes traced the contours of her face. For a split second, a bizarre second, Misty thought he was going to kiss her. The thought shot through her like a wildfire and burning with shame, she snatched herself out his grasp.

The smirk returned and he crossed his arms across his chest, burying his pendant against his jumper.

"Whatever you say."

Alone on the veranda again, Gary was gazing back into the rain. He could still feel Ash's arm under his, remembered pulling at Ash's bag, recalled shouting at the younger boy. But Ash had ignored him. Pikachu beside him, he'd torn himself from the veranda and from Gary and disappeared into the storm.

Gary shook his head. Whatever Ash was looking to find, Gary could only hope he would be too disappointed.

The slamming of the French doors behind him caused Gary to look about. Misty was standing at the doors, in full length jeans and her red jacket, her hair back into its characteristic side style. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and her shoulders were square with resolve.

"I'll find him" Her voice was thick with confidence. "I'll find him and bring him home."

Gary nodded mutely and watched as she sprang over the steps and onto the path beyond. He'd never seen her in proper jeans before. The thought slid idly across his mind as she hit the mud running and was swallowed by the darkness, just as had been Ash, only a half hour earlier.

His grip tightening on the banister of the veranda, Gary whispered, "Bring them back. Bring them both back."


	3. Caught In The Storm

**AN: **Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed the first two chapters; your support is very encouraging! I hope you enjoy part three, and if it's shipping your looking for in this story, don't worry, there's plenty more in store ahead!

I just want to make a quick note about my spelling - bluntly put, I'm Irish. That means I use the English system of langauge usage, Oxford English. I refuse to Americanise my writing, because that's not how I learnt it. So please don't think I don't know where spellcheck is in MS Word. It also means I use the English form of certain words, like torch for the American flashlight, path instead of pavement, bin instead of trash can, etc. I'll let the characters say the American version, for continuity and canonical purposes, but in my narration, please expect the English form. I hope you don't mind too much, but I'm a little stubborn on this point!

Enjoy:)

* * *

**Fire and Ice**

_Part Three - Caught In The Storm_

"Ash?"

Misty's voice echoed through the cave, resounding against the water-slicked walls and bouncing back to her with unexpected force. She was kneeling over the open hole of the cave, jeans soaked through by grass saturated with the remnants of the previous night's rain. The wind had abated slightly, but still tugged at her hair and jacket; a constant reminder of the cold that was approaching as the sun set in the distance. It had taken her the better part of a night and day, battling the dying storm, to reach the cave again.

But now that she was here, she wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do. Charging out after Ash had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now that she was here, cold and alone, she felt more like shaking him until he begged for mercy rather than doing any sort of rescuing.

Sighing, she reached down and pulled a Pokéball from her pocket.

"Going to need your help again, Staryu, if we're going to find him," she told her Pokémon as it emerged in the characteristic flash of red. "Can't leave him here alone, after all."

Misty glanced down into the cave again. The water level had fallen considerably since she'd last been here; it only reached halfway up the cave now. Staryu went in first, twirling confidently into the dark water below. Misty followed a little more cautiously, landing in the freezing water with a splash, disappearing under the surface for a moment before Staryu pulled her up again. She clutched onto it with one arm and fished a torch out her pocket with the other.

As Staryu started moving through the still water, Misty flicked the torch on. Caught in the beam, the wet walls glistened at her and the mosses gleamed green from the rocks they dominated. There was no sign of the little plateau where the Charmander has rested; the tide had submerged it.

"If we came in through that tunnel over there," Misty murmured to herself, swinging the light to her right, "then we should be going in further." She tapped Staryu's left side, and it dutifully followed her direction, turning towards the left and the rocky tunnel that led out of the big cave.

It was decidedly eerie in the underground network of tunnels, Misty quickly determined. Cave after cave branched off their tunnel, each as silently empty and devoid of life as the next. The occasional splash from Staryu's paddling was the only sound and the ripples they made as they swam through the motionless dark water the only movement. Misty held the torch high over her head, its yellow beam revealing rock and lichen and damp but nothing else. The cold water was numbing her legs and her arms ached from clinging to Staryu and keeping the torch airborne.

After what seemed like an age, Misty perked up. She could hear something ahead, just faintly. Staryu didn't need any urging, it picked up the pace. As they approached, the sound grew louder; a crashing, powerful noise that echoed through the cave, far louder than Misty's shout had earlier.

Without warning, Staryu banked hard to the right, almost crashing against the rocky wall. Misty cried out, almost dropping her light, before she realised that they'd been caught in a current and a strong one at that. Orientating herself again, Misty quickly beamed the torch in front of her, and her eyes widened in shock.

Metres ahead of them, the water was churning and gurgling, topped with white foam before it disappeared out of sight. The torch's light played across a rocky dead-end, illuminating the pending waterfall.

There was nothing Misty or Staryu could do, but watch helplessly as the current pulled and tugged them into the rapidly swirling water. Misty bit down on a scream as the force of the current tore her underwater and down.

And suddenly she was falling. Surrounded by a veil of water, droplets showering her face, she tumbled ungraciously through the air. The beam of the torch in her right hand sliced erratically through the air, its light muted by the cascading water all around.

As abruptly as her fall had begun, it was over. She hit the pool of water below hard enough to knock the remaining air from her lungs, leaving her spluttering in the blue-black water. She floundered for a moment, before summoning enough strength to kick to the surface. Once floating, she dragged the torch out from the water, and swung it around in a large arc.

"Staryu!" she called, and coughed. Her throat was raw; she felt as if she'd swallowed half of the contents of the pool. Although, as the beam of light traced the water, she wasn't so sure about that. This pool of water was enormous. The torch's light couldn't even reach the edges of the water. So she randomly chose a direction, letting the force of the current emanating from the base of the waterfall push her along.

"Staryu!" she called again, a little louder this time. She was rewarded with a surge in the water beside her, from which Staryu emerged with a spin. It tucked itself into her grip and she smiled. "You're okay!" She held the torch out again and kicked hard with her legs to help Staryu along. "Now let's go find a way out of this water!"

It took a few long minutes before they reached the shore. The torch hit a ledge of rock ahead, and with a little push from Staryu, Misty managed to pull herself onto it. With a pat on the back, Misty recalled her Pokémon and stood.

The ledge ran along the wall of the cave, a good metre above the surface of the water. She could still here the pounding of the waterfall, away to her left. She shone the torch along the path to her right and started walking, slowly, so as not to slip on the wet stone, running one hand along the rockface of the wall.

"Ash!" she yelled, keeping the flashlight trained ahead of her. "Ash!" Her voice resolutely echoed back at her, teasing her. Despite her best efforts, she almost tripped on several occasions, her soaked runners unable to grip the rock below properly. Water dropped steadily from her fringe into her eyes, no matter how many times she swiped at her hair with a forearm. By the time her little path had widened into something more considerable, her temper was threatening to get the better of her.

"ASH! When I find you, you are so going to regret it! I came through a storm! I fell down a waterfall! I am soaking wet and it's all _your_ fault! When I find you – "

"When you find me, you'll do what?"

Misty started in surprise, her runners sliding out beneath her and depositing her unceremoniously onto the ground with a cry of alarm. She battled with her torch for a moment, before it picked out the boy standing a couple of metres ahead of her, Pikachu perched upright on a rock beside him.

"Ash!"

He crossed the space between them and held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. Dropping her hand, he crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"What are you doing here?"

Misty pouted, somewhat indignantly. "What d'you think I'm doing here? You ran off in the middle of the night! I can't believe you charged out here in a storm!"

At least Ash had the courtesy to look a little abashed. "Yeah, well…"

"It's just so typical of you! If Gary hadn't heard you leave and told me, anything could have happened you! As soon as – "

"Gary sent you after me?" Ash interrupted, looking up at her.

"Sort of," Misty allowed. "But that doesn't change the fact that you are unbelievably idiotic as well as reckless! And I haven't a clue how we're meant to get out of here, but I'll find it and then as soon as we're back – "

"Who said anything about going?" he said stubbornly, meeting her gaze, glare for glare. "I haven't found Charmander yet."

She through up her hands in despair. "It's a story! All this – it's just some fairytale, some legend and you go thinking it's real!"

In the torchlight, she saw him square his jaw and determination flashed in his eyes. "Oh yeah? I think we've seen our fair share of things that are only supposed to exist in legends, wouldn't you?"

As Misty worked her mouth, searching for a suitably trite retort, Ash turned his back to her and took a few steps away from her, Pikachu skipping lightly after him. He glanced back over his shoulder at her.

"Are you coming with me or what? You can't stand there gawping like a beached Magikarp forever."

"I do not gawp like a beached Magikarp!" she protested huffily, but trotted after him nonetheless. He waited until she'd caught up then walked alongside her. "So what's the big plan then?"

He pulled the crystal from his jacket pocket and held it up to the torchlight. "Find the Charmander."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I get that. I was looking for something a little more specific."

He rolled his hand into a fist, burying the crystal into his palm. Pikachu leapt nimbly to his shoulder, settling into the damp material of his blue jacket. "I just figured we'd have a look around here. I mean, if you and me both got caught in that waterfall, chances are so did Charmander. So it'll be down here somewhere."

She nodded. "Obvious enough."

"I'm glad you brought a bigger flashlight."

She glanced at the tiny torch he was grasping in his other hand and snorted. "That's the keyring one you got free at a fair in Celadon, right?"

"In my defence, I was thinking about bigger things than flashlights!"

"Sure."

"Misty?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you bring any food?"

Once they'd eaten the somewhat squashed and slightly soggy sandwiches Misty had wrapped in plastic in her pocket, and squeezed as much moisture out of their clothes as they could, Ash, Misty and Pikachu set out again.

"This place is … gigantic," Misty said, sweeping the beam of her torch overhead. It didn't reach the roof of the ever widening cave. The light disappeared into the carnivorous blackness above, making her shiver. She wasn't a claustrophobic kind of person, but the pressing darkness was enough to unnerve anyone. Well, almost everyone.

"I can't believe I haven't heard about this cave before!" Ash was busy exclaiming. "I mean, it's not far from where I live, surely someone must have found it before."

"It's a little hard to get to," Misty pointed out, sidestepping to avoid a cluster of rocks on the ground. "We only found it because that bridge collapsed. You wouldn't have seen that hole in the ground above, because there was a plug there."

Ash's eyes were gleaming in excitement. "That makes it the perfect place for something legendary to be buried for hundreds of years!" His eyes narrowed again a moment later. "But I still don't get the prophecy. What has the Charmander to do with the crystal? If it was supposed to be saved, why did it run away when we could have helped it?"

Misty heard him scrabbling for the little crystal again and redirected her light to him. He was turning the crystal over in his hands, Pikachu watching intensely from his shoulder.

"Hey!" Ash cried out in surprise. "Look, look at it! There's something glowing inside!"

Peering more closely, Misty inhaled sharply. "You're right! It's like the blue and the red bits inside are glowing! It might be the light, but I could swear they're moving too."

"Mm," Ash mumbled in assent. "It's like one of those weird posters you get, where if you look at them a certain way, it seems like they're moving."

"Do you… d'you think it's something down here making it do that?" Misty's voice was a little quieter. "Maybe we're getting closer to something."

Ash shrugged. "Could be. It sure wasn't doing this earlier. I've been watching it for almost four days now, and it wasn't glowing before, although the strands inside were moving, though slower than now."

Misty shivered and it wasn't to do with her wet clothes. Legends and stories were all well and good in the safety of Professor Oak's lab with the others, but being dozens, maybe even hundreds of metres below the ground, with only Ash and Pikachu and no immediate way out, was a little disconcerting.

They lapsed into silence, Misty busily picking their path across the rocks with the shaft of light her torch provided and Ash busily examining the crystal with his little light. They'd left the waterfall and the inky pool of water behind long ago, and were heading in a perpendicular direction to the water, through an endlessly long cave, its ceiling arching way above their heads and the walls to the left and right disappearing out of the range of the torches as it widened. The ground sloped downwards ever so slightly, free of seaweed and moss and lichens, just scattered with bits of rock which prompted them to sidestep or jump every now and then when a particularly large one cropped up in their path.

And then Misty's torch was suddenly playing over something more than rugged ground. She touched Ash's shoulder lightly to get his attention and his little light joined hers.

Ahead of them stood a semi-circle of stone pillars, each at least two metres thick and rounded, reaching far overhead, presumably even as high as the ceiling of the cave. There were eight of the pillars, spaced widely apart and looking as if they'd been hewn from solid rock.

"There's something in the middle of the pillars," Ash noticed, approaching the pillars with as much caution as the young trainer ever summoned. He stepped quickly into the semi-circle and neared the low slab of rock standing upright between the fourth and fifth pillars. He ran his gloved hand along the flat surface of the rock, Pikachu hopping on to it, sniffing it.

There were symbols etched into the rock, twelve of them, in a circle. Misty traced the nearest one with a forefinger. What language they represented, she couldn't even begin to imagine. Every fourth symbol, where the twelve, three, six and nine on a clock would be, was accompanied by a little indented square below it.

"What _is_ this?" Ash asked, the bewildered expression on his face making Misty grin in spite of everything. "Gary didn't mention anything about underground pillars and weird little engravings in a rock/"

She merely shrugged. "Maybe he didn't know. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the legend."

He shot her an incredulous glance. "Of course it's got something to do with it! How many legends happen in one place? We just don't know what this is supposed to do."

"Whatever it is, it's not going to help us find that Charmander, is it?" Misty snapped restlessly. "Much as you might like dark, damp caves, I most certainly do not. So let's just keep looking and get out of here!"

She spun around and stalked gruffly to one of the pillars, runners squelching wetly against the ground and leaned against the rock, crossing her arms and pointedly staring into the distance.

Ash shook his head. Sometimes she was just too obstinate and not half as adventurous as he thought she should be. He scooped the crystal out of his pocket and did a double take.

He didn't need to shine his torch on it anymore; it was now glowing brighter than before. He turned it slowly in his fingertips, watching the ruby and sapphire strands inside tumble with the motion, somehow seeming to frantically wriggle in the solid crystal. Even Misty looked over, eyes narrowed in curiosity.

"Something's excited it," Ash guessed, glancing down at the stone and its symbols. He touched the edges of one of the boxed indents, and brought the crystal down beside it.

"They're the same size," he murmured and shifted the crystal over to the top square.

As soon as the crystal slotted into the square, several things happened simultaneously. Light erupted from the crystal, exploding upwards and outwards with such intensity that Ash and Pikachu cried out and staggered backwards, throwing up their hands to shield their eyes. As they moved, the ground seemed to shift beneath their feet, cracks appearing in the rock and splintered stone heaving upwards. The pillars swayed and shivered, threatening to topple.

"Ash!" Misty's shriek pierced the air, high pitched over the steady rumbling of the grating rocks. He uncovered his eyes to seek her out, his frantic search fruitless; the light from the crystal was too strong, he was blinded. Pikachu was clinging to his arm for all it was worth, squeaking as the bit of rock they were lying on split away from the surrounding stone. It slid free and the world seemed to tilt as it fell away from the pillars and the strange flat rock with the symbols and Misty and spun away, pushed by the bobbing of the loosening ground.

"Misty!" he yelled, shutting his eyes tightly against the light that attempted to suffuse his sight, knuckles turning white where he was gripping the rock. An enormous crash from behind them made his stomach flip; a few of the pillars had fallen and the shockwaves caught their slab of rock and sent them flying across the other rocks, for all the world like being at the mercy of storm-tossed waves at sea. Stones and gravel were showering down from far overhead, peppering exposed skin like pinpricks; hot and sharp. It seemed like the whole cave was collapsing in on itself, spurred on by the ever-present light.

As suddenly as the earthquake-like eruption had started, it grinded to a stop. Ash was thrown to the uneven ground, Pikachu landing hard a few metres away. The light had faded from unbearable intensity to a mere glow in the distance.

Ash stood slowly, brushing himself down and allowing Pikachu hop into the safety of his arms.

He regarded the cave and the destruction and shook his head in confusion.

"What on earth was that, Pikachu?"

The little Pokémon gave a little squeal and burrowed itself into Ash's chest. He didn't blame his friend; he was unnerved himself.

He picked his way across the splintered rocks, guided by the glow of the crystal. The whole ordeal had taken only seconds, but he'd been carried at least half a kilometre from the stone pillars.

Three of the pillars had fallen completely, spilling rubble everywhere. The other five were missing various chunks, and it looked as if some enormous beast had taken random bites out of them.

"Misty?" Ash called out, his voice sounding incredibly small in the deafening stillness. "Misty!"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu was tugging his collar and indicating anxiously towards the centre of the pillar formation.

The rock with the symbols had survived the ground shift, and stood defiantly as before. The crystal was still embedded in the rock, glowing a dull silver in the darkness. And there, in front of the rock, torch still clasped firmly in her right arm, lay Misty.

With a cry of alarm, Ash hurried to her side, catching his foot in an upturned rock as he went, sending him sprawling to the ground. He crawled the remaining distance to his friend.

Her eyes were closed, and her fringe had fallen across her face. Her clothes had the same rips that adorned his own jacket and jeans. A few bruises decorated her cheeks and the skin he could see through the tears of fabric.

Panic bubbled in his chest and, kneeling beside her, he brushed a few stray locks from her closed eyes.

"Misty! Misty, wake up!" he pleaded, Pikachu reaching out a paw to shake her arm. She didn't respond.

Something shimmered in the air in front of him and Ash glanced upwards. The crystal was glowing brighter again, its edges seeming to burn with brightness. As if the whole thing was melting, the strands of red and blue rose from their beds inside the crystal and floated freely into the air, unravelling as they did so. They were twisting and turning in the light, winding themselves around one another, writhing in complicated patterns.

Mouth hanging open in shock and wonder, Ash watched at the ribbons of ruby and sapphire spread outwards, becoming wider as they did so. Floating in the air, they seemed to solidify and coalesce into a definite shape. A few tendrils slid free of the forming body and weaved their way to where Ash was crouched.

He gasped and, taking Misty's arm, pulled back but Misty seemed to slide out of his grip. He watched helplessly as she hovered in the air.

The tendrils, a few glowing sapphire ones, laced their way around Misty's suspended form, not touching her skin, but forming a sort of cage around her, bathing her in their eerie bluish glow.

Ash scrambled to his feet and reached out to touch the bands of blue, but his hand stopped a few millimetres short. Something invisible was pressing against his palm like a force field, preventing him from reaching Misty. He slammed both his fists against the barrier he couldn't see and looked upwards at her face, held high in the confines of the light and the ribbons of sapphire.

"Misty," he whispered coarsely, his chest tight. This was his fault, whatever had happened to her, she'd only been here because of him. He had no idea how he was supposed to free her of this… prison.

A cry from Pikachu made him spin around, and elicited another gasp from him. The rest of the strands of red and blue had gathered in the air, and had formed the outline of a body, that of a Pokémon, hovering in mid-air, its features darkened.

For a moment, it hung frozen in the air, and then it lunged forward, dropping nimbly with four legs to a rock in front of Ash. He jumped backwards, but the shadowed Pokémon merely gave a deep-throated roar before springing away, disappearing into the darkness. The crystal gave one last flicker of light, before it died altogether. The cold, harsh light of the remaining fibre strands enveloping Misty cast a blue glow over the rubble.

Ash turned to look up at Misty once more. His breath caught in his throat as he gazed at her slim form hanging limply in the air. Her skin was so pale, like delicate porcelain. He wanted to touch her, to restore warmth to her icy skin, but he was sure that if he could, she would shatter in his arms, she looked that vulnerable.

Fighting a rising despair in his heart, he balled his fists and squared his shoulders.

"Whatever this is, I'm going to set it right," he said aloud. "I'm going to find the Charmander, I'm going to discover the secret of the prophecy and then," he paused to look up again, "and then I'm going to save Misty."


End file.
